Midseason TV Roundup, Part Un

Arrested Development: As I noted earlier, the rumors of Arrested Development's move to Showtime seems to be a winning scenario for everyone involved. DVD sales have always been the show's strong suit and the switch to a cable network would ensure that ratings would not scuttle another season. Showtime is still struggling to create a lineup that can effectively compete with HBO's dominance and Arrested Development could shepherd in quite a few converts. Fox seems reluctant to officially terminate the show, but after the network preempted the series for repeats of Prison Break, I imagine Grazer and company are going to be looking elsewhere after another season is abruptly ended. NBC would also be wise to try to nab the show (although I do not know how likely Fox would be willing to give the show to a rival network), as The Office, My Name Is Earl, AD, and Scrubs would make a devastating 'must see' night of comedy.

Lost: Lost has spread itself far too thin. Characters disappeared for entire episodes or, in Desmond's case, for an indefinite amount of time (where was he running to anyway?). The consolidation of the various groups at the end of the last couple of episodes should rectify most of the growing pains, but the season started off awfully shaky. I want to deal, however, primarily with the death of Shannon. I know Boone and Shannon were never very popular, but both of their death's were unnecessary and meaningless. The co-creator, Damon Lindelof, commented that the writers were eventually going to run out of flashbacks for the siblings - a terrible justification as they would have had four, maybe five, at current pace and Lost has shown itself to be excessively willing to rehash scenes. In another interview, Lindelof remarked that they needed to kill characters to maintain tension and suspense, yet as Boone and Shannon's respective deaths were both arbitrary and accidental, they did not sustain any sense of danger. Charlie's 'death' was far more powerful and menacing as it was a direct result of characters challenging the ultimatum of Ethan, and thus the island. Even Shannon's earlier 'death,' as contrived as it was, inspired more terror and emotion. Worst of all, her funeral entirely undermined Sayid's back-story: are we to believe that he 'loved' Shannon, after he spent years searching for Nadia - a quest which saw him kill a superior officer, endure a self-inflicted gunshot wound, and convince a dear friend to become a suicide bomber? Lost has shown itself unable to effectively deal with the monumental task of killing a marginal, let alone main character.